Chapter Text
A funny smell invaded his senses. It wasn’t a bad smell, but a strange one. He wasn’t familiar with it, but it smelled...nice. It was pleasant.
He opened his eyes, and yellow filled his vision. He sat up in a patch of golden flowers. How did he get here?
He looked up and saw light shining down on him. Did he fall? And what was that jingling sound?
He reached to the top of his head and removed the funny hat he was wearing. He saw the bells on the droopy parts on either side of it. One droopy part was black and the other was purple.
He put the hat back on, feeling happy after seeing it. He couldn’t recall why.
He looked at his hands. He was expecting a blue color for some reason. But instead, his hands were a mixture of brown patches and light peach patches of skin. Were his hands always like this?
He looked down on his shirt. Purple with black stripes and diamonds going down the middle, and the sleeves were a bit too long. His pants were black and kinda loose at the bottom of the legs. His feet were like his hands in terms of color, but he had no shoes to speak of...
He looked to his side. A plastic toy sickle. He picked it up, feeling like it was very important to him.
He stood up on wobbly legs. It felt very strange to him. Usually he’d be floating or on his tail--
Wait...Floating? Tail?
He felt along his back, going down until he felt a strange protrusion at the bottom of his back. It felt like it was a lot shorter than it should’ve been, but he felt some relief feeling the tail.
There was a path in front of him. Well, it’s not like he could climb his way back up to the surface of the hole he must’ve fallen down. Only way now is forward. So forward he went.
Until a strange flower blocked his way.
“Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!”
He tilted his head at the flower.
“You’re new to the Underground, aren’t you? Don’t worry. I’ll help you!”
The world flickered, and he and the flower turned black and white. Well, except for one thing.
A heart floated in front of him. It was upside-down and black with a purple glow to it.
Just looking at it made him feel...at ease? Happy? He couldn’t place the feeling, but it was a good feeling.
“You see that...heart...in front...of...you...” Flowey looked confused. “Hang on a second...What kind of soul is that supposed to be?! That’s no human soul! Ugh...Lemme check you.”
He kinda just stood there looking confused. His soul? What’s wrong with it? It’s not like it’s anyone else’s soul.
“Wh-Whoa...You’re...You’re not from this world, are you? Your stats are way too high even though you have such low LV...”
Flowey turned away from him, thinking. Meanwhile, he decided to spin around in circles around his soul.
“You know...I bet that if we can increase your LV, your soul would get way stronger!”
He stopped his spinning and looked at Flowey, curious.
“What does LV mean? Well, it’s short for LOVE, silly! You want some LOVE, right?”
He nodded enthusiastically. Who wouldn’t want love? He’s been so lonely and unloved for so long--
...Huh?
“Don’t you worry, pal. Your new friend Flowey will share some with you!” He announced with a wink. “Down here, LOVE is shared through...Little white...Friendliness Pellets! Now, I’m gonna toss you some! Go on! Get as many as you can!”
He was so excited! Finally! He’d be loved again! He reached his soul out to grab a pellet...
And he fell to the ground in immense pain.
“You idiot! In this world, it’s kill or be killed!”
Pellets surrounded his soul. There was no escape.
“DIE!”
Flowey laughed at him as the pellets closed in.
No...He couldn’t die here.
Not now.
Not so soon.
The game just started!
A rush of power channeled from his soul and flowed into the Toy Sickle. It transformed into a wicked scythe. As if it were second nature to him, he swung it around, destroying all the pellets.
Flowey watched in shock.
The scythe transformed back into the little toy sickle.
“You’re...You’re something else, aren’t ya? You know something? I think we’re gonna be great friends.”
He looked back at the flower and grinned. A friend?! A friend!
“So, new friend. You got a name?”
A name? Well he must have a name. He gave it a thought. His name...name...name...
A warm, raggedy voice echoed in his mind. A voice he knows he treasured hearing. The voice gave a hearty chuckle, and said his name between the chortles.
“...Jevil!”
“Well, Jevil. I’ll meet you up ahead! I’ll get you through the Ruins no problem!”
The world returned to its colorful self again. Flowey burrowed into the ground, vanishing from sight completely.
Jevil looked at the spot where Flowey was with interest.
A sudden loneliness filled his heart. He knew that Flowey said he’d meet him up ahead, but part of him wished that he could stay with Flowey the whole time.
Still, onward he ventured. Jevil smiled when he saw Flowey again.
“Down here, monsters love to scatter puzzles around to pass the time. See if you can solve this one.”
He looked down at the buttons that were in front of Flowey. Two of the buttons were on different colored ground than the other four. It looked strange to him. He decided to try to push down the four buttons not on different ground, then pulled the lever on the wall. The door opened.
“Wow! Good job! On your first try, too! You didn’t even read the sign.”
“...Sign?”
“...You, ah...You’re a person of few words, Jevil...Oh well! I’ll meet you a bit farther ahead!”
Flowey went back down into the ground, leaving Jevil alone again. Well that went well.
He continued to go through the ruins. The next room had water and bridges. On the wall were a couple of levers. Next to two of the levers were faded yellow arrows pointing to them. He pulled those levers, and spikes at the end of the room went down.
Out of curiosity, he tried to pull the third lever, but found that it wouldn’t go down. Jevil started to giggle as he kept on pulling.
He moved on to the next room. There was only a dummy in this room. He kept going, hoping to see Flowey soon.
The next room was a long hall. He saw a strange Frog-like creature. They made eye contact. It croaked at him, and he croaked back at it. The creature hopped away, almost like it was offended.
He looked ahead and saw Flowey again. Looking past the flower, he saw that there were spikes all across the ground. However, there were vines that made a path across it, making it safe to pass through.
“Howdy, Jevil! I gave it some thought, and I decided to help you get through the puzzles! That way we can get out of the Ruins quickly! That sound ok with you?”
Jevil thought about it. He wanted to play, but...
...since when did his choices ever matter?
He nodded glumly.
He walked along the path given to him.
Jevil just kept on walking. Even though he agreed to Flowey solving the puzzles for him, he felt like he was missing out on something fun.
Something special, even.
Still, he kept on walking. He felt hollow as he went through several rooms that guided him through vines. He walked past all the creatures that stared at him, all the puzzles solved for him. It felt like a heartless journey.
At least, until he came across a house. Flowey was there in front of him.
“Howdy, friend! Look! You’re almost at the end! You just gotta go to the basement of this house and you’ll be out of the Ruins! I’ll meet you there!”
And he was gone again.
Jevil felt empty inside. At first, he was so happy to have someone to call a friend again. But...This just didn’t feel right.
He went into the house.
The house felt as empty as he did. It was lived in once. No longer. Jevil went down the hall, ignoring the stairs Flowey wanted him to go down. He went into the first room he saw. A bedroom. It was filled with toys and shoes of various sizes. None of them appealed to him.
He laid on the bed, shaking and sobbing to himself.
He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, he was tucked under the covers with the lights turned off. On the ground, there was some sort of name-brand chocolate bar. He picked it up, suddenly feeling hungry. He ate half of it and put the rest in his inventory.
He wasn’t sure who did this. But whoever it was...maybe they were as lonely as he was.
He left the room. Despite how nothing else changed, the house felt more inviting. He looked at himself in the mirror next to the door.
It was like he was seeing his face for the first time. His skin was just as mismatched as his hands and feet. His hair that poked out from under his funny hat was puffy and dark brown to the point of being almost black. His eyes were rather light brown. And his button nose...something about it was just adorable to him.
He grinned at himself, revealing a gap between his two front teeth. It was him!
Feeling better and well rested, he went down to the basement of the house. He kept walking down the hall until he was met with a great door. He pushed the heavy door open and walked down the hall. He kept walking and walking until he was met with a patch of grass.
And Flowey to greet him.
“Took ya long enough, pal. What kept you?”
So it wasn’t Flowey that tucked him in and left him some chocolate...
“Well, just beyond this door is the rest of the Underground...But before you go, I gotta tell ya a couple of things.”
“...Like?”
“Well, like how some monsters beyond this point may attack you. At the very end of the Underground is a Barrier trapping everyone from getting to the surface. And only the power of seven human souls can break the barrier. They used to have six human souls, but...Things happened, and they’re back to square one.”
Jevil tilted his head in confusion.
“And, uh...Well...pal...To say your soul is special would be an understatement. Your soul is a lot stronger than most human souls at your LV. So, they may get the idea that your soul will be enough to break the barrier. But, the Queen has ordered that all humans are to be treated as friends, so you might be fine. So here’s what I’m thinking. Why don’t you go to the barrier and see if you can do it? Then you can go home, the monsters will be free, and everyone lives happily ever after!”
Jevil frowned a little. Home? Why would he want to go home? It’s not like anyone would notice he was gone, right?
...Where was home, anyway?
“Think you can do it, pal?”
“...I can do anything!”
Flowey looked surprised. “Wow. More than one word from you! Well, I can’t keep you company the whole time. You see, people don’t really like me that much. I’ve, ah...done a couple of bad things. But, it’ll be ok. You’ll make new friends that’ll help you in my stead, ok?”
“Ok...”
“...And we’re back to one word...Welp! See ya!”
With a wink, Flowey burrowed into the ground.
Jevil looked out toward the light, filled with Determination.